The invention relates to the removal of a fluid and other small particles and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for removing material from a person during a medical procedure.
Various types of equipment are used for withdrawing fluid and other particulates from a person's body during a medical procedure, such as surgery. For example, various types of surgical aspirators, tubing and fittings are used during the treatment of a person.
One example of a treatment that includes the use of an aspirator is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is the use of chemical substances to treat diseases, such as cancer. To treat a person, chemotherapeutic drugs are infused into a person and used to impair cell division by targeting and damaging fast-dividing cells. Other types of applications may also require the introduction and removal of a fluid or other material.
Often during the use of the aspirator or other medical removal device, the holes of the device become clogged or plugged with pieces of debris, such as tissue, blood clots, or the like. Currently, several types of tip guards, sleeves, or other devices have been used in combination with the aspirator in an attempt to prevent clogging of the holes during fluid removal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,747 to Yarger discloses a surgical aspirator device that can be positioned about a surgical aspirator to aid in preventing clogging of the aspirator holes during use of the aspirator. The surgical aspirator device is a sleeve that can be slid onto the aspirator and has a plurality of orifices. The sleeve also has a plurality of ribs for spacing the aspirator concentrically with respect to the sleeve. However, this sleeve can be only be used with a specific design of aspirator.
Therefore, what is needed is an apparatus and method for withdrawing a fluid and other particulates or debris from a designated area that does not clog during use and that can easily and efficiently remove the material.